Persuasion's Curse
"Hah, ya of course I've seen them, they spent some time here," The large male Faunus blacksmith boomed. "Those kids helped this town out a lot."
Mydnight sighed in relief as he lowered his scroll, displaying a picture of his younger sister. "How long ago did they leave?" The group was standing outside the smith's shop and he was standing in the doorway, leaning up against the door frame.
"Oh I'd say that must have been about...a week ago by now," he said with a smile. "Why?"
This time Mydnight groaned in a much more defeated sense. They had been chasing down Ruby and her friends for weeks now, and apparently they had gained far less ground than they had expected. "We are catching up way too slowly..."
"They are our friends," Ambur spoke up, placing her hand on Mydnight's back. "Cheer up, it's not much but we are at least catching up to them. Haven is far away yet, we might find them before we get there. At least we are on the same path as them."
"I guess you're right," Mydnight said, looking away from the group to the sky.
"Hmm, more Huntsmen from Beacon then? They spent a while here doing odd jobs for the town. They were very good to us. You kids need anything worked on?"
"No we're good, thanks for your time," Olivier piped up, bowing her head and the three of them turned away and headed through the town. "So should we stay the night or keep going?"
"Well it would be nice not to camp," Ambur admitted as she held up her pointer finger, "But it is only mid day, we would be setting off again later tonight if we stop now." The two girls looked to Mydnight for answers but he held his hands up and shook his head.
"Don't look at me, I'm fine."
"Oh come on you must be tired, you've been running us most of the way on your back," Ambur retorted as she reached around him and began to scratch behind his ears. Mydnight's tail began to wag beneath his coat as his eyes drifted shut while they kept walking. "I'm sure you could use a rest and a real meal."
"Ya come on Mydnight, you deserve it." Olivier agreed as she walked quickly to get ahead of them. "First we can find an inn and then get some food." The three friends walked down the main road until they found an inn to head into. As they walked inside they found it mostly quiet. The trio rented a room and found that they could put in an order for food right at the bar.
Before sitting down, Mydnight spoke up, "Lemme see your bags. I'll bring them up to our room," he said reaching his hands out to the girls.
"What a gentleman," Ambur smiled as she removed her bag and placed her free hand on her heart as a joke, and handed it to him, followed by Olivier. As he walked away Ambur found herself watching him go.
"You have got to be the luckiest girl I've ever met," Olivier laughed as she turned back to the bar and gestured for the bartender to come over.
"Be right with you!" The middle aged man said happily as he finished cleaning a glass.
"You know he can probably still hear us right?" Ambur said teasingly, still staring at her boyfriend going up the stairs to the second floor, as he began to chuckle to himself. "But ya, I think I probably am."
"Let him hear it," Liv said as Ambur turned around and leaned on her elbows on the countertop beside her friend. "We have been relying way too heavily on him these past weeks. At least spring came along quickly and we were able to offload our heavy jackets so he doesn't have to carry those anymore," Liv sighed, rolling her eyes. She sat straight up and began to unbutton the red and black flannel she was wearing. Once off she tied the arms around her waist and leaned back over the counter. She had replaced her winter boots with her old pair of open toed white heels, resting them on a spoke of her barstool between the tall wedge heel and the sole of the shoe. "Any girl would kill for a guy to treat them like he treats you Ambur."
"Don't sound so jealous Liv," Ambur began as she adjusted her crop top and ran her hand through her hair, making sure to keep it over her right eye. "I'm the one who's walking around with a supermodel," she stuck her tongue out at Liv.
Olivier looked at her friend and laughed, "I would take your curves over a runway body any day, Ambur." She looked away to the back wall of the bar, catching her reflection in a bottle. "So would a guy."
At this point the bartender came over to them and took their food and drink orders, Ambur ordering for Mydnight. As the bartender walked away they began to talk again. "Look I know it can't be easy...just...third-wheeling it with us across the world but, you know that we want you here. We wouldn't have it any other way," she said as she moved her hand over and took a hold of Liv's.
"Ya I know," Liv sighed. "The truth is I am jealous. I know I shouldn't be but, you two are just so...damn perfect. And every time I see you guys crack an inside joke or kiss each other I just see..." Liv trailed off and looked away.
"Caroline and Hunter..." Ambur said, finishing her friends thought.
"They weren't perfect, not like you two but, they still loved each other...and I wasn't there for them."
"Liv you seriously can't blame yourself for that," Ambur said quickly, squeezing her friend's hand. Like I said, we want you here. We are a team now. Besides, someday you're gonna meet somebody that will make you see that you're not cursed to be alone," she finished with a smile.
"Yeah Liv," Mydnight said as he took his stool, having silently walked up behind them. The girls jumped a little bit before sighing in relief. "What she said."
As he sat down, the bartender came back with all of their drinks. Mydnight immediately took his and slugged several sips before the girls could even grab theirs from the bar. "Slow down man," Ambur chuckled, nudging her boyfriend playfully.
"Hey, you told me I should rest, so I'm resting," he laughed as he set the glass of cold whiskey down.
"So, have you been listening to people we've walked by today? How about the blacksmith?" Ambur asked quietly.
"Ya, he was telling the truth. Around town you know, the usual. Affair here, little white lie there," he said casually, shrugging his shoulders. "Nothing crazy."
"God that must be so amazing," Olivier exhaled through her nose as she lifted her glass of red wine and sipped on it.
"Actually it's kind of annoying," he admitted. "Now that I know what my semblance is, it's always hanging around. It never shuts off. I'm constantly hearing people lie to each other."
"Ya I guess being a wolf with insane senses PLUS a truth sensing semblance could get annoying," Ambur agreed as she too began to drink from her beer stein.
"Still, I suppose I'm happy with it. And it makes sense. I've always heard legends that wolves' ears could detect lies. Put that together with seeing through illusions and I guess I shouldn't be complaining."
"I wish I knew when people were lying to me," Liv said with a small chuckle, "Wouldn't have dated so many douchebags."
"Okay to be fair," Ambur cut in, "At least you guys have interesting semblances."
"Okay, well as interesting as it may be," Liv said as she mimed air quotes around the word 'interesting', "being able to inspire others and raise group morale is not exactly as useful as your insane strength."
"Oh come on," Ambur said, rolling her eyes, "You know damn well you can do more than that."
"There is a difference between can and should Ambur. Being able to inspire someone to the point of actually influencing their decisions may be nice in the heat of battle but it means you can never ask for anything. It means you can never beg for something," Liv said quietly before once again looking away from them into her reflection in her drink, "every suggestion becomes an order."
With this, Mydnight and Ambur looked away from Olivier and back across the counter. "Ya that's fair..." Mydnight said solemnly.
"I guess getting used to my semblance was pretty easy compared to what you probably went through..." Ambur said as she rested her cheek in her hand, lifting her glass up in front of her and looking through the liquid. "Gripped a glass too hard a couple times, slammed a door too hard once," she started before she trailed off, clearly having one more example in mind but she decided to keep it to herself. After a moment she snapped out of her trance and brought the glass to her lips and took a long drink.
The three began to drink in uncomfortable silence until their food arrived, thanking the bartender and getting refills.
"God that smells amazing," Olivier swooned as she sat up straight and placed a large napkin over her thighs. "First real meal in a while," she smiled, taking hold of her silverware, holding them perfectly proper over her balanced meal of baked chicken, steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes with pepper. Ambur began to chuckle softly, attracting Olivier's attention. "What?" She says as she looked at the other girl.
"All the way out here and after all this time you're still as prim and proper as can be," Ambur laughed out as she picked up her fork and knife much more casually and began to cut up her steak as quickly as possible. "But you're right, I am starving."
"Look when you grow up with THAT for a last name," Liv shot back, as she pointed to a bottle of red wine labeled 'Antoinette', the very bottle her glass had been poured from, "you learn your manners," she finished sternly.
As the bartender finished pouring Ambur's refill he looked over at Olivier, eyebrows quirked in confusion, before turning to follow her finger to his wall of assorted spirits, finding her pointing at the bottle. He then looked back to her, his jaw hanging open, speechless. Olivier then brought her hand up to her mouth, her eyes going wide, "Oops..." She breathed quietly.
The other two begin to laugh uncontrollably, Mydnight nearly dropped his large burger back onto his plate. At this point the bartender snapped out of his stupor and spoke up, "You are the heiress of the Antoinette Vineyard? Why didn't you say so earlier?" He said frantically as he began to stutter, "All your drinks are on the house then!"
Liv took a long breath, focusing herself, "That's why..." she sighed. She then looked directly at the bartender and began to speak slowly. "That will not be necessary, thank you for the offer but we refuse."
The bartender seemed to space out for a moment while she spoke, before recomposing himself and nodding to her before he walked away.
"I guess it does come in handy from time to time," Olivier admitted quietly, before she cut off a bite of her chicken breast and raised it to her mouth and began to eat.
Ambur and Mydnight settled down and began to eat along with her. "Ya know you probably didn't have to use your semblance for that," Ambur said jokingly.
"I know," she admitted between bites. "I just wanted it over and done with. I'm hungry. No time to sit here and argue with a bartender. I don't want handouts."
That night, around midnight, Olivier woke up to find the other two still asleep. She rose from her bed, finding them sleeping peacefully together in the room's other bed. After a few moments of contemplation, Liv began to pul on her clothes and head to the washroom. She wet her hands in the sink and started to rub the water into her face, waking herself up as best she could before looking in the mirror and starting to fix her hair. As she finished she let her hands fall to her sides before staring into the mirror.
She stood there for several moments looking into the mirror longingly, as if looking for an answer. "How far do I have to go in this world before people have no idea who I am? Why did this mission have to take me so close to home? Why can't everyone see me the way that those two do...as me..." She asked quietly to herself before shaking the thoughts away and leaving the washroom. She packed all of her things back into her bag and leaned it up against the wall before quietly exiting and heading back down stairs into the bar. This time there were far more people around. She walked out of the building and out into the night air.
She found an old wooden bench outside the inn and sat down. Okay it bout thinking, Liv crossed her legs like a lady would at a formal gathering, before looking down at her legs with a frown. She un-crossed them and leaned back into the bench with her arms folded over her chest, looking up at the sky. "How did it get to be like this..." she asked, looking back down at the ground. "One day you're at home and before you know it you're on the road with the only two friends you've got in the world."
Olivier sat outside on the bench for what felt like forever. In reality it was only about an hour before Mydnight and Ambur came downstairs and found her outside in the cold night air. Ambur brought her backpack to her and handed her her flannel long sleeve shirt, "What are you doing out here in the cold Liv? You're gonna get sick," she asked, wrapping the shirt around her friend's shoulder.
"Brooding...I guess," she answered sarcastically as she stuck her arms through the holes and began to button the shirt up. "I'll be fine. I'm just...tired."
"How long have you been up? Did you sleep at all?"
"Not that kind of tired," she said softly as she stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "Like I said I'll get over it, come on we've still got a lot of ground to make up."
"If you say so," Ambur said as she took Olivier's hand and smiled down at her friend as they began to walk. "We're always going to have your back, you know?"
"Ya I know you two will, you're all I got, and I love you guys," she said with a soft smile. "I just wish...I don't even know what I wish. Like I said, I guess I'm just jealous of you two. Which I know sounds awful because you've both been through so much but...it's true. At least after all this you still have each other. I just hope that one day I can have something like you guys do. I know we are huntsmen and life isn't just some big fairy tail but...can't blame a girl for trying."
"No you certainly can't," Mydnight agreed as they made it to the edge of town, heading out onto the dirt road. "You guys want a lift?"
"Ya, if you're up for it," Ambur said as they came to a halt just outside the view of the town. Mydnight once again changed his form into a wolf and the girls climbed onto his back before he slowly worked up his speed, sprinting into the night. "Owwwwwww," Ambur groaned as she began to hunch over into Olivier's back, rubbing her thighs. "We really need to get you a saddle babe," she said sarcastically, Olivier laughing with her.
"No, you're just not used to riding," Olivier laughed, having spent much of her childhood learning to ride horseback.
"I think I ride him plenty, thank you very much," Ambur joked, poking Olivier in the side beneath her ribs.
The two girls laughed into the night as Olivier rolled her eyes before settling down and leaning forward into the back of Mydnight's neck. Olivier began to softly pet the right side of Mydnight's neck encouragingly. "Thank you for being strong enough for all of us Mydnight. You really are the best." she said softly before Ambur hummed in agreement and the trio rode off into the darkness of the woods.